Highchair Bib

ABSTRACT

The present invention describes a highchair bib and debris catch device. The highchair bib forms a barrier over the upward facing surfaces of the highchair seat and over the child&#39;s torso that prevents food and liquids from coming in contact with the highchair seat and the child&#39;s torso and legs. It catches any mess that lands on it and prevents it from falling to the floor. The preferred embodiment of the highchair bib is designed such that it can easily be mounted on a wide variety of highchairs with no modification of the highchairs required.

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION 1. Field of the Invention

This invention relates to highchair bibs. Specifically, this invention relates to bibs and food catch devices designed to be mounted to a highchair and worn by a child.

Currently, children usually use a neck bib or smock bib to keep them clean while eating. The downside of these bibs is that they do not prevent food or liquids, henceforward referred to as mess, from falling beside, behind or in front the child onto the highchair seat. This results in soiled clothing and soiled highchair seat and allows mess to fall off of the highchair seat onto the floor.

2. Description of Prior Art

Several patents have improved on the simple neck bib to address the issues mentioned above, but none of them do so as effectively or with installation that is as simple as this patent's installation.

U.S. Pat. No. 2,321,670 issued to E. W. Gibson shows a highchair bib designed to keep food off of a child's torso and from falling on the floor. This is achieved by covering the child's front and arms and by forming a taught trough of fabric below the highchair tray. While the highchair bib presented is similar in some ways to the present invention, it differs in that it requires permanent modification of the highchair to install it, and it does not cover the top of the highchair seatback. This allows mess fall behind the child onto the highchair seat.

U.S. Pat. No. U.S. 2014/0173800 A1 issued to Jillian Wulf and Nathan Wulf describes a neck bib with a hook and loop means of attaching the bottom of it to the front edge of the highchair tray. It is similar to the present invention in that it prevents food from falling on the child's lap. However, it differs in that it does not prevent food from falling beside or behind the child onto the highchair seat. Also, it does not protect the child's arms or shirt sleeves from becoming soiled.

U.S. Pat. No. U.S. 20130161984A1 by Dina Yaghmai and Houri Shafaie communicates a highchair bib which covers a child's torso and extends beneath the highchair table to form a debris catch. It differs from this invention in that the debris trap is formed by attaching the bottom of the bib to the underside of the tray; whereas in the present patent, the bottom of the bib is held in place by the highchair tray support arms which pass through holes in the bib. It also differs from the present patent in that it does not cover behind the child up to the top of the highchair seatback.

U.S. Pat. No. U.S. 2012/007390 A1 issued to Kimberly Ann Hart describes a highchair lap bib which protects a child's lap from coming in contact with debris. It differs from this patent in that it does not protect a child's torso from getting messy.

SUMMARY

This invention provides a highchair bib and mess catch device which mounts on a highchair and is wearable by a child or infant (henceforward referred to as child). It prevents mess from coming in contact with the rest of the highchair seat and with the child's torso or legs. Simply put, it keeps the child and highchair seat much cleaner than existing devices do. The highchair bib also traps mess that lands on it and prevents it from falling to the floor or onto the child's legs. Furthermore, this invention can be used on a wide variety of highchairs and, in its preferred embodiment, requires no modification of the highchairs to mount it on them.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

The invention is illustrated by several drawings as listed below. The drawings illustrate a preferred embodiment of the patent and do not limit its scope to what is shown in them.

FIG. 1 is a perspective view of a highchair bib according to this invention mounted on a highchair and being worn by a child.

FIG. 2 is a top-down view of the highchair bib of FIG. 1 laid out on a flat surface.

FIG. 3 is a frontal view of the highchair bib shown in FIG. 1 laid out on a flat surface.

FIG. 4 is a frontal view of a highchair bib mounted on a highchair with the tray table removed and being worn by a child.

FIG. 5 is a side view of the highchair bib of FIG. 1 mounted on a highchair and being worn by a child.

FIG. 6 is a rear view of the highchair bib of FIG. 1 mounted on a highchair and being worn by a child.

FIG. 7 is a top view of the highchair bib of FIG. 1 mounted on a highchair and being worn by a child.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION

Referring to FIGS. 1 and 2, the reference number 10 generally indicates the highchair bib and mess catch device of this invention. The highchair bib is adapted to be worn by a child and attached to a highchair so that the highchair bib fabric 24 forms a barrier that covers the child's arms and torso and extends from the top of the highchair seat to beneath the highchair tray. The highchair bib may be preferably constructed of water impermeable fabric, but any flexible material may be employed.

The highchair bib is basically a sheet of material large enough to be stretched over the seat-back of a highchair and down below the high chair tray table. In the center of the material 24, there are holes for the child's head and arms and there may be extra fabric added to this part to facilitate increased mobility for the child. A collar 12 is recommended in order to stop drips but it is not essential. The collar can be fastened by hook and loop or some other appropriate mechanism. The bib can either have sleeves 14 or no sleeves. In the preferred embodiment, sleeves 14 are present. Preferably, they are also made out of any water proof material.

The perimeter of the bib has a channel 28 with a draw string 18 in it with a cord lock 20 at the rear and forepart of the bib. The drawstrings 18 can be made out of string, elastic, or ridged material such as metal or plastic wire. The preferred embodiment uses elastic cord for both the rear and forepart drawstrings 28.

The forepart of the bib fastens around the highchair tray support arms using an appropriate mechanism. In the preferred embodiment, the bottom of the bib has two holes 22 in it so that it can fasten around the highchair table support arms. On the outside of each hole is a cut that extends to the outer perimeter of the bib 16 that is recloseable using hook and loop or other suitable fastening mechanism. These slits facilitate the bib being mounted on highchair table support arms of various diameters and allows the bib to be installed and removed without removing the tray table. The bib could also be constructed without the slits, but they are included in the preferred embodiment. When the forepart of the bib drawstring is tightened it forms a trough 26 that prevents food from falling onto the ground. 

1. A bib and food catch device adapted for use with a children's highchair and a child having arms and a head in the children's highchair, the children's highchair having a traytable and a seat with a seatback, the seatback having a top, the bib and food catch device comprising: material which covers over the top of the seatback and extends from the top of the seatback to below the traytable; the material having arm holes for the child's arms to pass through; the material having a head hole for the child's head to pass through; and the bib and food catch device having means for securing a rear portion of the bib and food catch device over the seatback.
 2. The bib and food catch device of claim 1 in which the children's highchair has support arms for supporting the traytable, the bib and food catch device further comprising two support arm holes in a forward portion of the bib and food catch device which the support arms can pass through.
 3. The bib and food catch device of claim 1 wherein the material also includes, at a middle portion of the bib and food catch device, fabric which covers the child's torso like a shirt and gives him or her additional mobility.
 4. The bib and food catch device of claim 1 further comprising sleeves extending from the arm holes.
 5. The bib and food catch device of claim 2 further comprising slits that extend from each support arm hole to an outer edge of the bib and food catch device.
 6. The bib and food catch device of claim 1 further comprising an elastic or inelastic drawstring along a lower perimeter of the bib and food catch device, which has an installed configuration in which the drawstring causes the a forward portion of the bib and food catch device to form a catch for food and liquids.
 7. The bib and food catch device of claim 1 further comprising an elastic or inelastic drawstring along a rear perimeter of the bib and food catch device, which has an installed configuration which holds the rear portion in place over the seatback.
 8. The bib and food catch device of claim 1 further comprising a collar connected to the head hole.
 9. The bib and food catch device of claim 5 in which the slits are recloseable.
 10. The bib and food catch device of claim 9 in which the slits are recloseable using hook and loop fasteners.
 11. The bib and food catch device of claim 6 in which the installed configuration is a configuration in which the drawstring is tightened.
 12. The bib and food catch device of claim 7 in which the installed configuration is a configuration in which the drawstring is tightened. 